I saw a decently coached team lsst night and i started to have hope. Excited to see how they look again kstate. I forgot how much i love cal basketball

socaltownie said:

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I saw a decently coached team lsst night and i started to have hope. Excited to see how they look again kstate. I forgot how much i love cal basketball

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I've said it before and I'll say it again, if you play hard, play pretty smart, hustle, try to defend, try to play team ball, I can get behind that and enjoy the game. So far, I'm seeing that a lot more than recent past. I hope we see. more of that against a better opponent like K St.

All the games so far this year have been very watchable. Looking forward to seeing how they fare at kst

I got an invite from an old high school teammate, and was able to go to the game in Haas on Monday night.

We both came away impressed, and we both felt this was perhaps the best roster Madsen has recruited at Cal. Of the players who got to play in the game, they all seemed to be very solid fundamental basketball players. They all seemed to move well, find the open man, pass well, and defend well. They all know how to play basketball. If there are projects on this team, they did not play in this game.

Ames was as I expected. Marvelous. Previously, he had started as a freshman for Kansas State, and as a soph, he started for Virginia, both legendary basketball programs. He has all the tools. Camden played very well, as did Pippen, Dorsey, Bell, Petraitis, Dort and several others. I apologize if I left anyone out.

What I really liked was Cal's defense, which looked to me to be a man-to-man defense, featuring players in a crouching stance, with the side-to-side slide steps, characteristic of the toughest man defenses for almost a century. I hated help defense with players standing up straight and always running to catch up to help a teammate who was losing his man, and too often losing his own man in the process.

I felt Cal's free-throw shooting was outstanding. That is something that can keep you in a game, even against the best teams. These players may not all be great 3-point shooters, but overall, it looks like they can all shoot from their spots and put the ball in the basket.

The only thing I was disappointed with was the low fan turnout. We figured it was less than 1000. This a very enjoyable team to watch, and they might just be pretty good, if we get out and help cheer them on.
Go Bears!

The first three games, we got to see how they fare when the mismatch favored us. It was better than many prior teams in that they didn't let up, lose focus or play down to their opponent.

OK - maybe they did a little - but the team and staff seemed to adjust much quicker. That, in and of itself, is a promising sight. Playing down to your opponent is usually a sign of poor chemistry, sloppy coaching or toxic player personalities (or any combination of those).


Tonight is a matchup on a 'hostile' court with travel and much better talent. It will be interesting to see how this team fares when the mismatch favors THEM. While I am enjoying this iteration of Cal MBB - the overall talent level may be hard pressed to compete with better teams. A player like Camden can look great against a CSU and disappear against better talent. Just using this as an example - and I hope it doesn't happen. I could see this happening to every player in our starting lineup against better defense. And I could see our bench being so outmanned, that we can't afford to play them (I have big concerns with our frontcourt, in this regard).

Will they lose heart?

Will they lose focus?

Will they be able to adapt to what K state does in a quick and effective manner?

I hate to use this term, but depending on how things look, even a loss could be considered a 'good loss' if the team plays well and stays in it until the end.

We need Campbell for this game. Hopefully he can play.

BeachedBear said:

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The first three games, we got to see how they fare when the mismatch favored us. It was better than many prior teams in that they didn't let up, lose focus or play down to their opponent.

OK - maybe they did a little - but the team and staff seemed to adjust much quicker. That, in and of itself, is a promising sight. Playing down to your opponent is usually a sign of poor chemistry, sloppy coaching or toxic player personalities (or any combination of those).


Tonight is a matchup on a 'hostile' court with travel and much better talent. It will be interesting to see how this team fares when the mismatch favors THEM. While I am enjoying this iteration of Cal MBB - the overall talent level may be hard pressed to compete with better teams. A player like Camden can look great against a CSU and disappear against better talent. Just using this as an example - and I hope it doesn't happen. I could see this happening to every player in our starting lineup against better defense. And I could see our bench being so outmanned, that we can't afford to play them (I have big concerns with our frontcourt, in this regard).

Will they lose heart?

Will they lose focus?

Will they be able to adapt to what K state does in a quick and effective manner?

I hate to use this term, but depending on how things look, even a loss could be considered a 'good loss' if the team plays well and stays in it until the end.

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I hate responding to my own post, but last night the ups and downs captivated me and I felt obliged to revisit this post.

Lose Heart? Hell No!!

Lose Focus? At times - mostly individually - but mostly brought it back.

Adapt? Yes. But not quick and effective enough. I think this game will provide some excellent film review for BOTH the players AND the staff.

A painful loss. But not a blow out (in the end). Cal never gave up and that is my biggest takeaway. Weeks from now, if they are down 15 to a good team, they can honestly look back on last night and KNOW they can come back. They didn't have that for many years.

Individually:

Camden was OK - my sense last night will be what we see from him during ACC play.
Dort - similarly, his failings were exposed. Our lack of depth in the front court was exposed.
Pippen - not a great game for him, but this is what the future holds. We really need him to grow from this.
Rytis (sort of dissapeared) and Dorsey - both utility players that everyone loves to have on the team - but against top competition, their minutes will be limited.
Ames - WOW! He is our rock!
Bell - This is what we needed from him. More games like this will help the team.
Carr & Dut - both showed promise (Carr alot, Dut less so). Their development seems VERY important now.

Coaching staff - There is alot to criticize, but mostly those have to do with player rotations and their is not much to choose from. Yes - a recruiting/retainment issue on them - but that is background vs game related. But they kept the team motivated and focused through some serious tough runs. Overall positive grade IMHO.